Horne says recent gun incident at elementary school shows need for added safety funds

Legislature, Governor to consider more dollars for officers in budget talks

PHOENIX – Last week’s report of two elementary school students being detained when a gun was found at a Phoenix school has prompted Superintendent Tom Horne to urge state lawmakers and the Governor to prioritize additional funding for the school safety program in the upcoming state budget.

Horne said, “The discovery of a gun on an elementary school campus is very disturbing and once again shows how important it is that schools have armed officers on campus. My biggest fear is that a maniac with a gun shoots up a school, killing or wounding children and adults as has happened in other states.  For the upcoming state budget, the legislature and Governor are going to consider added funding for the highly successful School Safety Program so we can add more officers on campuses. They must do so. The need is clearly there, and we must have safe schools in Arizona.”

He added, “Up to now, we have never had to deny a grant request and my hope is that we never do. Imagine if a school asked for an officer but the funding was not available and a maniac got on campus and killed people. Parents would never forgive that.”

The School Safety Program primarily relies on state dollars. Current funding pays for 498 School Resource or Safety Officers in addition to counselors at more than 1,100 schools statewide. The grant request process for schools that don’t have officers is currently open through mid-April. To date approximately $103 million has been requested by districts and charters for the FY27 School Safety Program. That figure would fund more than 700 positions for both officers and counselors, with more requests expected over the next month.

Horne concluded, “The high number of requests for money to pay for officers and counselors speaks volumes to the concerns school leaders have about campus safety. As last week’s incident in Phoenix shows, the need for officers is great. The legislature and Governor must not fail in their efforts to find the resources schools need to protect innocent lives.”